Jan
29
‘Chaos’ warning over bonus veto
Jan
29
Moyers: How Big Banks are Rewriting the Rules of our Economy
Bill Moyers talks with former Citigroup chairman John Reed and former Senator Byron Dorgan to explore how our political and financial class shift economic benefits to the very top.
Moyers & Company Show 103: How power and influence helped big banks rewrite the rules of our economy. from BillMoyers.com on Vimeo.
January 27, 2012
Jan
29
A Modern Pecora Commission ?
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My Sunday Washington Post Business Section column is out. This morning, we look at the newly impaneled Office of Mortgage Origination and Securitization Abuses.
Print version had the headline A Chance for a modern Pecora Commission to right Wall Street wrongs.
It’s fair to ask: Is this new task force a meaningless exercise? The article looks at the ways to tell if this office is for real. How the structural set up of the office will reveal if this is a whitewash; further, the areas that get investigated will also tell us if this a serious investigation.
Here’s an excerpt from the column:
“So, here we are, four years after the great financial collapse, three years after the recovery began and in the last year of Obama’s term — and the president has finally decided to investigate the role of fraud in the great global financial crisis. Hence, this new task force — the unit of Mortgage Origination and Securitization Abuses — begins behind the curve. The statute of limitations is, in many cases, close to elapsing.
Even so, do not dismiss the investigation out of hand because of the timing: History informs us that a serious investigation can begin four years after the fact. Recall that Ferdinand Pecora was the fourth chief counsel for the Senate committee that investigated the Wall Street crash of 1929 and subsequent Depression. He was appointed in 1932 and received broad investigatory powers in 1933. His report ran thousands of pages. Thanks in large part to Pecora’s findings, Congress passed the Glass-Steagall Banking Act, which separated commercial and investment banking; the Securities Act of 1933, which established penalties for filing false information about stock offerings; and the Securities Exchange Act, which created the Securities and Exchange Commission to regulate the stock exchanges. Nearly 50 years of financial stability followed.”
The dead tree version of the paper has a classic photo of Pecora:
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click for ginormous version of print edition
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Source:
A modern Pecora Commission could right Wall Street wrongs
Barry Ritholtz
Washington Post, January 29 2012
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/a-modern-pecora-commission-to-right-wall-streets-wrongs/2012/01/22/gIQAJ3uoYQ_story.html
Washington Post Sunday January 29 2012 page G6 (PDF)
Jan
29
Nokia Ringtone During Violin Sonato
Violist Lukáš Kmiť shows what to do when your playing is interrupted by a ringing phone, as happened to him during a beautiful performance at an orthodox synagogue in Presov, Slovakia. Kmiť broke off playing for an instant, regrouped, and then improvised a lovely aria based on the Nokia ringtone.
Lukáš Kmiť plays the viola
Orthodox Jewish synagogue in Presov Slovakia
by Milan Ferencik/Greatmilan & Jakub Hasko/CTZ Films
http://greatmilan.blog.cz/1201/the-video-is-not-a-fake
hat tip boingboing
Jan
29
10 Weekend Reads
Some fascinating reads to start your Sunday Morning:
• Who Owns The World’s Financial Assets? And Why Are U.S. Households So Fascinated With Stocks? (Wall Street Rant)
• Chasing the Mirage of Hedge Fund Returns (Forbes)
• George Soros: How to Save the Euro (NY Review of Books)
• Why Tech Stocks Look Better—Even for the Risk Averse (WSJ)
• The one percent war (Reuters Magazine) see also NJ Gov Chris Christie to the 1%: Please Occupy New Jersey (WSJ)
• GDP growth still not enough to get back to full employment (Washington Post)
• Legal Foreclosure Issue two-fer:
…..-Arizona attorney general: Bank of America impeding investigation (Phoenix Biz Journal)
…..-Bill takes aim at Colorado foreclosures (Denver Post)
• The Office: Can It Be Fixed? (Grantland)
• How Siri is ruining your cellphone service (Washington Post)
• N.Y. Airports Account for Half of All Flight Delays (NYT)
What are you reading with Sunday morning coffee?
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U.S. Economy Picks Up Steam
Source: WSJ
Jan
29
2012 Edelman Trust Barometer Global Results